Universal cabinet design elements to make our custom cabinets user friendly and accessible for older people and people with and without disabilities

Drawers vs Doors in Kitchen Base Cabinets

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White kitchen base cabinets with banks of drawers

Kitchen and bathroom base cabinets with drawers instead of doors have become an increasingly popular option.

Drawers allow easier access to items in the back of the cabinet, especially when full extension drawers are used.

With full extension drawers, kneeling or crouching to see items in the back of the drawer or removing items at the front to access things stored at the back of the cabinet is not necessary. The drawer is simply pulled to full extension, and items at the back of the drawer are easily visible and accessible.

Kitchen base cabinets full extension pot drawers opened

When adding drawers instead of doors, drawer height can be customized to the items you plan to store in the drawer. Instead of 2 equal height shelves, a bank of drawers can consist of 2 large, deep drawers to hold pots and pans, or a bank of 3 or 4 drawers to organize smaller items like cutlery, spices, utensils, towels, measuring cups, makeup, or makeup, towels and grooming tools in the bathroom.

Primary Bath in Maple Savaii with black hardware

Small drawer height is an excellent choice for organizing items like spices, utensils, makeup, brushes and combs, etc.

Taking inventory and pre-planning for the items you need to store in your cabinets and designing your door and drawer setup to accommodate the way you cook, bake and get ready at your bathroom vanity can go a long way towards making your space organized and make it easy to find items you’re looking for.

Floating bathroom vanity cabinet with 2 drawers in Biscay

Items lost in the abyss at the back of the cabinet becomes a thing of the past when you can easily pull out the drawer and see everything stored there.

Biscay rift-white-oak-look full extension pot pan drawers with 5-piece drawer fronts

 

When designing kitchen and bathrooms, there are a wide variety of configurations for base cabinets, from drawer over door, bank of 2 to 4 drawers, pull out trash drawers that looks like a cabinet door, tilt down door for a hamper or narrow space like a small powder room, single drawer knee space cabinets that serve as a makeup vanity or desk and paper towel drawers that accommodate extra paper towel storage as well as an easy under-counter access for paper towels.

Island cabinet with paper towel drawer, wine cubes and end panel

Burrows Cabinets also offers pull out shelves as an alternative to drawers. Pull out shelves have sides that are typically not as tall as drawer sides, creating easier visibility to items on the shelf. The shallow height can also make it easier to remove items like pans, serving dishes and canned goods.

Kitchen base cabinets in Saba green with pull out shelves

Burrows Cabinets offers all of these customizable door and drawer configurations to create the perfect space for the way home buyers use their home.

Texas new home builders, contact Burrows Cabinets today for more information.

Let’s build!

Universal Kitchen Design by Burrows Cabinets

Half moon lazy susan Large pot and pan drawers by Burrows Cabinets Garbage and Recycling Pull Out Cabinet

Burrows Cabinets believes that no matter your age, height, hand and arm strength, ability to walk without assistance and ability to see in low light, your cabinets should work well for you. To help our builder-customers achieve universal kitchen and bathroom cabinet design, Burrows Cabinets offers several standard and optional features to help homeowners age in place and make cabinets easier and more pleasant to use, both for those with and without disabilities or age considerations.  The following are a few of Burrows Cabinets universal design features to consider for your new kitchen cabinets:

  • Custom cabinet layout that allows builders to create open floor plans with maximum usable space for easier navigation through bathrooms and kitchen in a wheelchair or for assisted walking
  • Variable cabinet height options and knee space options in the bathroom and kitchen to allow for wheelchair use
  • Bump-up and bump-down cabinet height options in the kitchen to allow for use by children, special task use, and households with differing height needs
  • Trash pull outs that make garbage and recycling cans easily accessible
  • Soft close drawer guides and soft close door hinges which allow the user to nudge the cabinet door closed with a knee, wrist or elbow without having it slam against the cabinet.
  • Pull out lower shelves which give the user access to items at the back of the cabinet without having to squat low to the floor and reach to the back.
  • Optional lazy susan cabinet inserts to give users easier access to the back of corner cabinets
  • Open shelving options to allow easy access to frequently used items without having to open a cabinet door
  • Large base drawer options instead of lower cabinets with doors to allow easy access to pots, pans, bowls and other large items in the kitchen, and access to towels, blow driers and toiletries in the bath
  • Standard integrated light rails to hide optional under-counter lighting for extra visiblilty

Burrows Cabinets white master bath cabinets in Camley style